A catless writer is almost inconceivable. It’s a perverse taste, really, since it would be easier to write with a herd of buffalo in the room than even one cat; they make nests in the notes and bite the end of the pen and walk on the typewriter keys. ~Barbara Read more…
What will the future hold? Let us journey to the year 2055 via my mind! “Sitting at a computer” is as quaint an idea as listening to serials around a credenza-sized radio. Or staring at a dedicated “television” screen. Everything is mobile and tactile and implanted. Consequently, people are much Read more…
A first draft of a story looks like this: The final draft of a story looks like this: They are both words on pages, nothing more. Why can’t we just write the final draft the first time? We forget that we’re making ART. You don’t just start from the beginning and Read more…
When I asked my friends what would be a good subject for my writer’s blog, the vast majority answered, “Writer’s block!” (And I stared at them mutely because that’s been the subject, in a way, of ALL my posts.) Either they hadn’t been reading my blog before offering advice (Gasp! Read more…
The thing you do to be sane and happy should besomething you can control. -Cory Doctorow How to fight writer’s block? Well, we identified it as a mood, so what causes the mood? Boredom with the project? More advice from Cory (and I was chuffed when he gave it Read more…
To do lists are the most important tool I use to treat writing like a job. I keep two to-do lists. The first is in my writing journal. When I think of an idea to fix a story, I draw a box and write it in the journal. Then, Read more…
Shortly after attending Clarion, I was bragging about it to a colleague. “All the teachers are published authors,” I said. “Like who?” she asked. I listed my instructors. She stared blankly. “What would they have written that I would have read?” she asked. I’d mentioned award winners, a genuine New Read more…